This little DAC is a definite upgrade over the on-board sound card on my laptop. When listening to my Westone 3s on it, the soundstage is wider and deeper, there is greater resolution in the higher frequencies, and the bass has more impact. Thing's built very nicely too, with an all-aluminum housing. There can be a bit of background hiss on more sensitive headphones/earphones; but then again, it's $15 and it's no worse than the laptop soundcard. I don't know what more to say other than the fact that it gave a noticeable improvement for $15, hard to argue with that!